US Rep: Trump tells fallen soldier's widow he 'knew what he signed up for'

by The Associated Press

President Donald Trump points to a reporter to ask a question during a media availability in the Rose Garden with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., after their meeting at the White House, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump told the widow of a soldier killed in an ambush in Niger that her husband "knew what he signed up for," according to a Florida congresswoman who says she heard part of the conversation on speakerphone.

Rep. Frederica Wilson said she was in the car with Myeshia Johnson on Tuesday on the way to Miami International Airport to meet the body of Johnson's husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, when Trump called.

When asked by Miami station WPLG if she indeed heard Trump say that she answered: "Yeah, he said that. To me, that is something that you can say in a conversation, but you shouldn't say that to a grieving widow." She added: "That's so insensitive."

But in a Wednesday morning tweet, Trump said Wilson's description of the call was "fabricated."

"Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!" Trump wrote without specifying what proof he had.

Wilson, a Democrat, said she did not hear the entire conversation and Myeshia Johnson told her she couldn't remember everything that was said when asked it about it later.

"When she hung up the phone she looked at me and said, 'He didn't even know his name.' Now that's the worst part," Wilson told CNN.

Trump has been criticized for not reaching out right away to relatives of the four killed in Niger. On Monday, Trump said he'd written letters that had not yet been mailed. His aides said they had been awaiting information before proceeding.